Elected Official Direction to Staff

PostMarch 17, 2009

This article explains the uniquely sensitive relationship that exists between elected officials and staff at public agencies.

The discussion occurs in the context of an elected official that is pressuring a staff member to take care of in the elected official’s neighborhood. Potential issues include the conflict between an individual officeholder’s priorities and those adopted by the agency, conflict of interest issues relating to the official’s ownership of property in the neighborhood and the need for elected officials to work through the city manager or county administrator.